Ambitious Alamo remodel faces scrutiny over design, funding

An artist's rendering shows the proposed main gate (made of structural glass) of a renovated Alamo Plaza﻿.

Photo: Courtesy, Texas General Land Office

SAN ANTONIO - Some of the Alamo devotees who drew a defiant line in the sand against a conceptual plan for the Texas shrine have modified their stance, now saying elements of it would improve the mission and battlefield.

In the days since renderings were publicly revealed April 11, residents, Hispanic heritage scholars and Alamo lovers worldwide have registered strong opinions about the most ambitious project ever presented for redevelopment of Alamo Plaza and the surrounding area.

A third public meeting on the plan is set for May 2. The second meeting on Tuesday ran nearly twice as long as planned as 56 people addressed officials of the city, Texas General Land Office, nonprofit Alamo Endowment and design team members.

Many consider the Alamo hallowed ground. More than 1,000 mission-era burials were documented there before 500-700 Mexican soldiers, pro-independence Tejanos and American and European settlers and adventurers were killed or wounded in the famous battle of March 6, 1836.

Gene Powell, chairman of a six-member Alamo master plan management committee, said the plan is not fully "baked," but seeks to expand pedestrian space, by closing streets to traffic and other changes, to up to nearly 12 acres, at least doubling the existing vehicle-free zone.

Although most people associate the Alamo with the iconic facade of its mission-era church, the fortified compound besieged in 1836 contained several other buildings, cannon ramps, small courtyards and a large main courtyard, now covered by the city-owned Alamo Plaza.

"What we're trying to do is return the reverence and dignity in front of the church, while at the same time providing twice as much, (or) three times as much additional space around for the community to use," Powell told some 300 people Tuesday.

Although the House version of the state budget includes $75 million requested by the Land Office for the Alamo, the Senate proposal is $46.2 million. A conference committee of House and Senate members will iron out those differences.

"We'll end up somewhere in between" the two figures, predicted Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond.

Calls and letters from the public "can sometimes be effective, or at least it helps us stop and dig a little deeper into what some of the circumstances might be," Zerwas added.

Sen. Jane Nelson, appropriations chair in the Senate, also did not voice support or opposition Thursday.

"We have heard from 30 individuals who are concerned about the master plan and want to ensure that the Alamo and its historic significance is preserved," said Nelson, R-Flower Mound.

The plan follows decades of complaints from visitors that the state-owned, 4.2-acre Alamo complex is small, unimpressive and hard to find. Unlike the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, it lacks open space for large-scale commemorations involving horses, cannons and re-enactors.

Critics on Facebook reposted a statement made Wednesday by Glenn Effler, an Alamo researcher and author of "13 The Alamo Book of Days," encouraging others to "oppose any new funding for the Alamo project at the present time."

But Effler posted Thursday that portions of the plan are critical, including structural repair and preservation of the 250-year-old church, closure of the plaza to traffic and relocation of amusement businesses that have long made a home there.

Although the state should halt the "ill-conceived" plan for the plaza, "we don't want to turn off the money completely," Effler wrote.